


Dust to Dust

by AlphaKantSpell



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Animals, Daemons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-28
Updated: 2013-10-28
Packaged: 2017-12-30 19:18:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1022426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlphaKantSpell/pseuds/AlphaKantSpell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time Kalliope saw Will and his mule deer daemon; she fluttered over to Hannibal and asked him in a whisper quieter than the brush of her wings, when they could eat the man.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dust to Dust

            The first time Kalliope saw Will and his mule deer daemon; she fluttered over to Hannibal and asked him in a whisper quieter than the brush of her wings, when they could eat the man.  Kalliope often suggested who they should eat, who they saw as rude and needing a disgraceful death.  What surprised Hannibal was that he disagreed with her opinion on the man.  Will was snarky, yes, but too amusing for him to see as rude.  Will intrigued him, this man with fractures in his psyche that would avalanche if Hannibal used the right push.  As delightful as a meal with Will would be, Hannibal did not want to eat him.  Not yet, at least.

            “Please don’t psychoanalyze me.”  Will’s voice was dark with restrained anger, coiling heat before it blew.  “You won’t like me when I’m psychoanalyzed.” 

On the far side of the wall, his deer, Louam watched Hannibal when Will refused to.  Such a juxtaposition to the man.  Louam watched everything, ears forward and eyes watching both Jack and Hannibal.  No matter how much Will tried to shrink away, hide in ill fitting clothes and his dark curls, the sheer size of his daemon made sure everyone in the room knew he was there.

  When the two left, Will was in such a fluster that he didn’t bother to put on his coat.  Louam tread with carless hooves, sharp and loud on the tiled floor.  Hannibal’s own Kalliope landed on his left breast pocket, black and orange wings outstretched like a broach, ever the regal Monarch Butterfly.    

“Maybe we shouldn’t poke him like that, doctor,” Jack Crawford suggested with a hint of a smile.   To the side of the desk, his Chesapeake Bay Retriever watched Will and his daemon made their way out with an air of distaste.  She liked the members of their pack to work at full capacity and losing one because of the addition of another was not something she would tolerate. 

Kalliope climbed up to his shoulder and whispered again, describing to Hannibal what dish would best compliment Will’s meat.  Hannibal smiled and continued his conversation with an unaware Jack.

When they had breakfast with Will the next morning, Hannibal found himself amused by the state of the man’s house. Dark, humid with the breath of six animals and a human, and coated so completely in dog hair that a vacuum could never get it all.  Will guided Hannibal to his modest kitchen table, Kalliope holding tight to Hannibal’s collar.  Long ago the two learned that it was best to travel that way.  She could fly but not fast. 

Louam sat in a corner with the dogs, his limbs tucked under him with careful maneuvering.  His ears flicked and he watched Hannibal with interest but stayed where he was.  It was terrible manners to have a daemon sit with animals.  Disgusting, even.  Will’s soul lay with the panting dogs, dirt under their nails and noses sniffing where they shouldn’t.  Hannibal should have been revolted by the sight but it just made Will all the more interesting.

In general, true animals did not like to be near daemons and likewise.  All six dogs enjoyed the close proximity and Loaum was more at ease than Will himself.  It was doubly unusual that the dogs were so affectionate to a non- _canidae_ daemon.  Before settling, Louam must have taken their forms often, something not quite domestic but still very much a dog, like a dhole or a singing dog.  Hannibal understood the attachment.  Before settling, Kalliope favored primate forms and he’d found himself missing the extra thumbs during surgeries. 

During their meal, not once did Kalliope suggest a meal to make out of Will.  She didn’t say much of anything at all, preferring to venture down Hannibal’s sleeve to sit on his wrist.  She looked beautiful there; crisp, clean wings just as straight as the creases in his suit.  Will told him the day before that he didn’t like watching other people’s daemons but it was inevitable that his eyes would be drawn to Kalliope.  She put a spell on everyone the met, person and daemon alike.  Kalliope was an elegant distraction to the blood that she and Hannibal enjoyed. 

“I don’t find you that interesting,” Will claimed, spearing another bit of flesh.  Kalliope’s wings twitched and Hannibal had to hide his smirk. 

Out of his peripheral, Louam stood to join the others at the table.  He came close to Will, the man idly rubbing one of Louam’s velvety antlers.  They would shed soon, bleed with tatters of skip peeling off to show white branches beneath.  Hannibal imagined the macabre sight would be one to behold.    

“You will.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Hannibal: Monarch Butterfly (Danaus plexippus) named Kalliope – Greek Muse of beauty and elegance
> 
> Will: Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) named Louam – Ethiopian “Sleep well”
> 
> Jack: Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Chiwen – Mandarin “persistent”


End file.
